Kevin's Watch

Congress Bridge
Merlin from Minnesota
flew in during the
monsoon, landing on
one pontoon, avoiding
land sharks - declared
it a river - watched the
homeless battling swans
form their rigged ferrys;
counter-thrust and parry.
the red-light facts show
that it is raining bats...

invisible kafka

now is the time
& the time is now (x5)

invisible kafka
he has kung fu action grip

invisible kafka

takes off in his rocket ship

---------------------------------------

my wobble is infinite

opens red to yellow
red on decrease
red - common
blue opens low

poem for Peter Dinklage to read aloud

I am a mineralist
but now without risk
a locomotive engine
so come see me again

and you know sometimes,
I don't really mind...

in my gabardine suits
and my travertine boots
my head is full of flies -
my mouth is full of flies

sun shining so bright -
a low drag on cloud 9...

Reconnecting Magnetic Fields

Interacting field lines can produce
violent energetic discharges.

First Line

standing
in front of
a vending
machine

as if a million light bulbs
suddenly went off inside
my head. I thought I was
in Vegas and had just won
the slot machine.

The Third Man Conundrum

gritted with soil
an orange soul

1944 Among thin
pools of color, ragged
figures claw the air

In the first half of the 20th century

Vox Pop

a sunset. "The sun dissolves the whole of
Moscow into a single spot,"

The swifts circling the chimney,
its rough inner bricks, pulling the light

BLURRINESS
WAVY LINES
BLIND SPOT

"which, like a wild
tuba, sets all one's soul vibrating."
tuba? so much for law and economics.

the black dog understands

as the wind shuffles clouds,
decks of grey and white,
splatters rain; then springs the sun.

autumn, summer's remnants,
all sliding subtly into winter.

Sometimes Y

the gutter, the ghetto
the gallows. crossbones
blowing in the crosswinds.
cliques hanging out by
the bricks. tear-drops in
their eys, wearing snitch
jackets & suicide blankets.
thieves hanging off the
crossbar. sissy bars &
bitch straps & black strap
mollasses. a little litter of
bitch-kittens wait & wait
in the low lights. (lower)
spoonshakers, widowmakers.
the gospel truth las vegas-
style. white noise, black-
light posters, barbed wire
gone haywire. a summary
kept out at the armory...

( a song)

the room is cold
but not as cold
as the low, empty bed
we left behind
and I want to
burn
burn
burn
burn it all down

I'm feeling old
but not as old
as the low, empty grave
we left behind
and I want to
burn
burn
burn
burn it all down.

the distance between...
my heart
and yours
is covered by a smile
unfettered/free


Julie no one...
else could
anchor me
so if
i start
to drift
please
bring me back
home

late last night...
I dreamed of home
of being with you
snowdrifts piled high
snowmen armies
poised for battle
stone walls, white birches
wandering creeks
being lost
in the woods with you
but most of all,
I dreamed of you

Julie!
a kiss...
then I'm
floating away
into the blinding
light of today...
untethered,
gravity fails,
a kiss...
is all it takes

girls nite out
(on Easter Island)

"Alone" the stone moaned,
"and all grown, the others have flown"
so the rock began the roll,
and this is rather droll,
that she seemed a troll.
so the bolder, when older
wouldn't grow colder, for a boulder...
(accounting for treble, such a pebble!)
oh, taken for granite, as though...
did she plan it? or plant it,
on this planet?
so the moral to this story
not so floral, as maybe the glory
never emboss with moss,
and so say the boss, it's all dross.

south hall gate

constant whine - daily
grind. collecting strays
during my off days...
rock salt, main vault,
San Andreas Fault...
(it belongs to somebody)
bigger fish, little pond,
you do not belong. Null
is a Zero, a Zed, a Cipher.
the absence, the last Pied
Piper. lock up your wives,
lock up your daughters...
designate your cannon
fodder.the second is last,
too slow and too fast.
his time is long past.
shortwaves set to blast.
old jalopy, stolen junk
heap. faded embers will
give off no heat. salt mines
and downed land lines.
(only mistake was mine)
island hopper and dust
cropper, faded blue and
rusted copper. a parade
for absent child, her bitter
tripe, seasoned mild. spin
and turn collecting a burn,
he tries to keep ahead as
we ignore what was said...

Under A Cold Sun

they called school because
of the ice - pipes frozen
in place. teacher of the
year can only do so much.
state of constant flux. you
do not understand how things
work. the nose of a whale
seems close, closer than it
appears. Buck Owens plays in
the background, soft and low.
listen to that cowboy moan.
load the camera with magnetic
tape; we will never be the same.
save this exact moment in time,
pay attention and win a prize...

from Magnum Opus

a chasm of sarcasm
a low level sputter
of laughter. so when
Mesmer vs the fish -
grab a cup of Kafka;
load Hemingway's shotgun
or a camera obscurred.

he takes all of the
objects he desires
from the houses
of his friends; one at
a time, by borrowing

cipher the oujia board,
spark up the cyclotron,
number all of the quarks.
dark matter collides, so
listen for background hum.

penny black chewing winter
in Nebraska. penny red
chewing summer in Kansas.
both canceled the oranges.
underground down, please post.

magnum opus...

390
empty the theater, save
for clowns. cross the sky
and cross the sky...
circling in emptiness,
it is a rhymeless poem.

391
theory? hell it's poetry.
moths, silverfish, rust
and dry rot. now in the
midst of this strangeness,
a familiarity, a silence.

133
across from the
bowling alley, 2nd
floor to the right...
do you still love me?
she smiles...

Shamwow Guy Beats Up Cannibal Hooker (pt I)

the on-call oncologist
mis-diagnosed Pandora -
failing basic geometry.
he did note her child-
barren hips, ascribing
it to a Freudian slip,
and set sail for New
Indianola. King Midas
went for an early swim.
prefering the Aqua Regia
to the Aqueous Humor.
he chose a cold water flat
despite the obvious facts.
his whole life was spent
listening for the clicking
of a geiger-counter...

deleted fixed assets

flocks & gaggles of Elvii
are straggling through
concourses while betting
high on quarter horses.
early morning without
warning, forming their
wedges near the ledges,
defensive drills boosting
skills without any pills.
kung fu fighters looking
lighter than Vegas. they
attend morning masses,
confession on weekends.
face-booking friends and
always cutting the edges

Dostoevsky's Thank-You

the hinges. the hinges
were on the wrong side.
lock port turned around.
my key would not fit...
basement flooded, our
mirrored archipeligo. the
cages un-numbered, the
hooks un-counted, stairs
and doors un-attended.
found a log book, time
sheets coded and unbound.
the acoustics un-matched.
earth, dry and segemented.
whistling past the dark...
the steady hum distant.
inbetween times infrequent.
lost to our indifference. then
the volume empty. under
the tree, still waiting, waiting.
how long until complete?

unrequested

so when closing my eyes,
as they still trace the day,
as if chasing myself. grey
is fading away, distant and
lowered. betrayed, she still
terrifies me. orange birds
are now singing, countering.
left speaker - right speaker.
predictability, copper wires
are crossed. switching the
receivers. tasting electrical
relays sparking. bitter sounds.
as we hearing the fading bells.

Zupia y Basura

Cue the Valkyries

across barren plains, empty
skies. winters are the hardest.
hardly a day before, warm glow
as counters spin and click.
gears shudder and grind. slowing
the good works. fabricated...
trying to diagram how I feel,
ended up with a paper cut. under-
neath the shade of the shade
tree, shadows flock together. the
tick-tock heart of the Pinkerton
Man flutters, falls to the ground.
clouds are clouding. static of mid-
day morning. the world does not
stop. I can not get off... enough.

from Magnum Opus

6
the uncle that sleeps
in your house
his gyroskope and gimlet
in the wade
of my father, dodge

8
a gaggle of geese, a gaggle
of women.
Guy Fawkes and Sadie Hawkins
the strawboss
and the cotter pin.
forget and juxtapose,
go the quagmire.

26
go
high-speed
low drag
in & out
i'm a ghost

31
come to think of it,
it's better to drift
than to sink

Gomer Black – Continue With Exodus

Can an acid trip produce future shock? Gomer Black thinks so. The Vermont band’s newest album stakes out a middle ground between conflicting classic sounds – punk, garage, gutbucket blues and the digitized sheen of the 21st century.

“Continue with Exodus” isn’t likely to earn them any radio play; but it does reestablish their intent to convert the masses to the gospel of art house rock and roll.

The opening track “Out in the Woods” marks their territory early. It is all primal chords and sympathetic rhythmic explorations. Then they get progressive with the atmospheric fuzz and wobbly funk of “In the Gates my Friends”. Singer/guitarist Thomas Usher is full of wide eyed paranoia and revulsion as he scream “Kick down the doors, they wait for you!” His shrieking caterwaul owes something to a rusty power mower.

Gomer Black keeps up the high-strung racket for most of the first side. They zip through broadsides like “Charcoal Filters Dig Deep” and “Junk Oboe.” The latter which rails against microwave ovens and Bohemian resale shops!

Thomas Usher treats his guitar like a percussive instrument, filling the songs with all sorts of clanging, crashing and thudding. CJ Miller augments this assault with a plodding bass line. Dennis Hanson manages to hold it all together with an apocalyptic backbeat.

The next song offers another secret weapon; pop melody. “Concept of Questions” is all dreamy Floydian psychedelic dream imagery. And in “Along Walls Implanted” Gomer Black quiets down for a hushed lullaby. Usher cooing “The void is where love lives.”

“Heliocentric” is seven minutes of tension that finally releases in a blur of subdued fury. “Ten Pence Falling” offers a groovy tribal beat that melts into a spazzy collage.

With a shuffling, loping beat ferocious power chords and vocals that wallow in the Mississippi Delta “Crystal Avatar of the Tenth Plane” is the undisputed highlight of the album. Guest vocalist Matt Kidd rants, sneers and snarls like a punk rock kewpie doll with Tourettes. He does all this fronting the most sticky-sweet melody that Gomer Black has ever written. It’s an anthem about a good girl who goes on a weekend bender.

She stays up late, solving complex math problems and exacting her revenge on everyone who’s ever doubted her. The song is clearing echoing Gomer Black’s struggle with the mainstream music media. It starts out defiant “All I wanted was the order” and quickly turns vicious: “Solving problems in my head, never figured to be in your bed.”
The music is easily the band’s catchiest on the album.

Matt Kidd provides swelling pipe organ as the band offers a frenetic coda backed by a soaring, sing-along chorus. “Keep temper tempered blind drive-by ambition.” It is strychnine disguised as bubble gum.

For a band that has always pushed the modern limits the confined ghetto that is “alternative” rock; this album is a revelation. And it is the listeners chance to see how deep feigned simplicity can go. Very deep it turns out.

- Roy Downs